In case you missed it, Cinch has been named a finalist in 17 categories by The Stevie® Awards for Sales and Customer Service. Meet 4 of Cinch's finalists as the awards ceremony approaches:
Jim Thomas
Sales Representative of the Year – Other Services Industries category
- Please tell us your name, title and how long you’ve been working for Cinch.
My name is Jim Thomas, I’m Vice President, Business Development and I’ve been with Cinch for 7 years. - What are your roles and responsibilities at the company? Can you describe the initiatives you oversaw that led to key growth and recognition in your department?
I’m responsible for creating relationships and developing business with affinity partners. We then work with these partners to provide their customers with top-notch products and services with the hope of creating long-term value opportunities for a mutually beneficial alliance. - Tell us about your work style. Is there a specific approach or tactic that has helped lead to your success?
First, it’s imperative to learn as much as possible about our partners, their key initiatives and primary objectives. They need to know we really do care about who they are as a company and what they expect of their partners. We then illustrate how Cinch can help them achieve their goals by providing each and every one of their customers with an excellent, state-of-the-art experience. - How would you describe Cinch in three words?
Integrity. Innovation. Customer-centric. - What would you say is the best part of working at Cinch?
The best part of working at Cinch is that I get to work with our partners to focus on their customers’ experience. This is both enjoyable and exciting for me. Plus, with Cinch’s teams and expertise behind me, I know we can provide our partners with best-in-class relationships between Cinch, our partners and their customers. - Who is your most important role model?
My father - Do you have a favorite quote or philosophy?
“Listen twice as much as I speak.”
Kathleen Oetgen
Business Development Professional of the Year category
- Please tell us your name, title and how long you’ve been working for Cinch.
My name is Kathleen Oetgen, I’m a Senior Account Executive and I’ve been with Cinch/HMS since 2007. - What are your roles and responsibilities at the company? Can you describe the initiatives you oversaw that led to key growth and recognition in your department?
I am a Senior Account Executive responsible for maintaining relationships with existing accounts and creating relationships that lead to new business.
In 2019, I was honored with:
● The Platinum Award for most units produced based on new accounts signed
● The Top Producer Award for most units sold overall
● The Award of Excellence that honors team members whose passion for excellence extends to both clients and colleagues. This Award is for those Account Executives who demonstrate a strong commitment to sales and growth of their territory and leadership in the field and of their peers. - Tell us about your work style. Is there a specific approach or tactic that has helped lead to your success?
My primary goal is optimal customer service. I ensure that the brokers and agents offering our product to their clients know that we are there for them at all times and stand firmly behind our products and services. - Tell us a bit about a challenge you’ve recently overcome. How do you approach these kinds of situations?
We had a service provider who was creating a number of challenges within my territory. We tried working with the provider one-on-one in order to improve their service delivery – even meeting with them personally in an effort to save the relationship. Unfortunately we had to part ways because, in the end, our customers’ service experience is our number one priority. A service provider must meet our standards in order to be part of our network. - How would you describe Cinch in three words?
Strength. Trustworthiness. Partnership. - What would you say is the best part of working at Cinch?
Cinch promotes teamwork and also rewards individual achievements. I appreciate being part of a company that truly cares about its employees, its partners and its customers. Our team works hard to help one another reach our common goals and that make us stronger. Success can be its own reward, but working for a company that recognizes individual, as well as team achievements, is extremely gratifying. - Who is your most important role model?
My dad. He believed that hard work and honesty were the keys to success, both personally and professionally. Every day I learn how true his words really are. - Do you have a favorite quote or philosophy?
“I’d rather be an hour early than a minute late.”
Brandon Galloway
Back-Office Customer Service Professional of the Year – Other Service Industries category
- Please tell us your name, title and how long you’ve been working for Cinch.
My name is Brandon Galloway, I’m an Authorizations Supervisor, and I’ve been with Cinch for 4 years and 8 months. - What are your roles and responsibilities at the company? Can you describe the initiatives you oversaw that led to key growth and recognition in your department?
I oversee the Authorizations Support Team and my responsibilities include:
● Supervision of a 17-agent team
● Workload management for CL Authorizations
● Job follow-up
● Authorization job review exceptions
The key initiative leading to growth and recognition within my department was rewriting the process for how each exception operated. I worked closely with management to ensure the approach we put in place would consistently deliver a “customer-first” result. - Tell us about your work style. Is there a specific approach or tactic that has helped lead to your success?
My work style is what I call being a “data-driven people-person”. I like reviewing the data provided to me and then developing concepts and processes that maximize every agent’s potential while providing our customers the best possible service. - Tell us a bit about a challenge you’ve recently overcome. How do you approach these kinds of situations?
Minimizing exceptions are an important part of what we do. That made me want to track which service providers had the highest count of exceptions so that our service network department could help coach the service providers. I worked with our Data Analyst Department and inquired how we could utilize the service intelligence section of Service Bench to gather and properly use this information. - How would you describe Cinch in three words?
Innovative. Challenging. Results-oriented. - What would you say is the best part of working at Cinch?
The best part of working at Cinch is that each day I’m provided with new challenges and things to learn. For people looking to grow and advance their careers while educating themselves through constant challenges and teamwork, Cinch is the best place to be. - Who is your most important role model?
Albert Einstein - Do you have a favorite quote or philosophy?
"If you are not willing to risk the usual you will have to settle for the ordinary." — Jim Rohn
Davel Daverman
Young Customer Service Professional of the Year – Financial Services Industries category
- Please tell us your name, title and how long you’ve been working for Cinch.
My name is Davel Daverman, I’m an Executive Claims Specialist and I’ve been with Cinch for 3 years. - What are your roles and responsibilities at the company? Can you describe the initiatives you oversaw that led to key growth and recognition in your department?
In a nutshell, I handle the complex escalations. When there are claims issues that have problems getting resolved, I step in to ensure a complete and satisfactory resolution. Whether the escalation comes from the legal department, executive team or the agents, I delve into the process to find solutions and get the claims process back on track. - Tell us about your work style. Is there a specific approach or tactic that has helped lead to your success?
My work style is a “customer-centric” approach. Since I’m passionate about my work and do the best I can in every situation, by the end of the process the customer knows they can trust and depend on us. I don’t focus on my position or my stature within the company. I focus on the team and our customers, so my claim resolution success rate has always spoken for itself. - How would you describe Cinch in three words?
Cinch truly cares. - What would you say is the best part of working at Cinch?
The gratitude, respect and motivation provided by the management team is my favorite part of working at Cinch. They are involved with the process, offer assistance whenever it’s required and consistently show us how much they care about our personal and professional well-being. I would encourage people to join the Cinch team because I feel we are more like family than work associates and know that there is always room to grow. - Who is your most important role model?
Life coach and empowerment speaker, Dr. Helen M. Kennedy - Do you have a favorite quote or philosophy?
"Faith in God will move mountains.”